


Home From the Sea

by Lexen (bluedragoninamber)



Series: Percy In Love:  An Estate for All My Percy Stories [11]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Choosing Your Own Path, Hair Braiding, M/M, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Severus Snape Lives, holiday at the seashore, reevaluating life, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 23:02:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20299372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedragoninamber/pseuds/Lexen
Summary: Both Percy and Severus have an important decision to make.  Perhaps, they can make it together.





	Home From the Sea

**Author's Note:**

> Please Read: This story is mine. I am the original and only author. It was first posted on FFN more than five years ago. I don’t remember exactly when. I took all my stories down off the internet and left the HP fandom due to personal reasons. I am now returning to the fandom and reposting some of my old stories. When I posted these stories on FFN, my penname was Lexen (and sometimes Hope4astalemate and bluedragoninamber) though I usually went by Lex. To repeat, this story is mine. Please don’t claim I have stolen it from someone else. Also, please don’t ask me to repost a particular story. I will be reposting only those stories which I choose to repost, and I will only be reposting them here.

**Disclaimer: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

**AN: This AU story takes place after the Final Battle. It is not compliant with Deathly Hallows in that Severus survives and in regards to Percy Weasley. This is Percy/Severus slash and my first time writing this Percy pairing. The prompt was “Severus Snape goes on holiday and finds out he actually misses teaching at Hogwarts.” Obviously, the story got away from me, but the prompt is in there. **

After surviving the Final Battle and helping to get Hogwarts ready to reopen, Minerva had ordered Severus in no uncertain terms to take a holiday for the month of July. 

“Severus, you survived a war and helped rebuild the school. You’ve already got your entire curriculum for the year planned out. Merlin knows you deserve a break. Take some time and take stock of things.” She smiled at him. “And Severus? Your life is finally your own now. Make sure that teaching at Hogwarts is actually what you want to do. I’d hate to lose you, but it’s long past time that you put yourself first. Figure out what you want…no one else…only you.”

Minerva was gone in a whirl of emerald tartan robes leaving him holding a portkey for a well-stocked cottage in a wizarding sea town and thinking that it was the first time in a very long time that anyone had actually asked him to consider what he wanted.

A few days into his holiday, Severus was beginning to remember what it was like to be his own master. He actually slept through the night and woke quite late in the morning. He had a chance to eat real meals with real food exactly when he chose to. He had no potions to make, no deadlines to meet, and absolutely no demands on his time. He even had a chance to indulge his favorite hobby, reading. And it wasn’t potions books that he was reading. He had brought a stack of fiction books with him including a handful from Arthur Weasley.

“Wizarding books have nothing on muggle books,” Arthur had said. “There’s one to suit your every mood. It’s the ultimate escape. The only difficulty you may run into is when you’re missing books in a series.”

It was the lack of one book in his current favorite muggle series that led him to the local bookshop. It was run by a wizard smart enough to realize the appeal of muggle books. He kept a good stock of wizarding and muggle books, and Severus was certain that he’d find the missing book in the series there.

Severus did find it…in the hand of none other than Percy Weasley.

“Percy?” Severus said, hardly able to believe that the young man was standing in front of him.

Percy did not smile, but his expression lightened. “Severus, I did not expect to see you here.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Severus said wryly. He had not known the third eldest Weasley very well when he attended Hogwarts though he’d been an excellent potions student, but during the rebuilding of Hogwarts, Percy had worked beside him and had done more than his share of the work. Moreover, Percy wasn’t uncomfortable around him the way that others were. Severus’s actions during the war, regardless of the reasons behind him, would forever brand him as a suspicious figure in the minds of many. Percy’s actions during the war, regardless of how well-intentioned they’d been, did the same for him. The two of them had worked well together in the months of the Hogwarts rebuilding, and they had developed an odd sort of mutual respect for each other. Truthfully, one of the reasons that Severus had been reluctant to take a holiday had been that he had come to appreciate Percy’s company.

Holding the muggle book in his hand, Percy said, “I suppose Minerva finally roped you into taking a holiday.”

Severus scoffed. “I hardly had a choice in the matter. The Gryffindor lion is an immovable object even more so than Albus was.” He eyed Percy. “Did she get to you as well?”

Percy did smile then, just a little, but it lit up his face in a way that made Severus’s breath catch.

“Don’t blame my presence on Minerva. Blame it on my mother.” Percy blushed, and Severus suddenly realized that the boy he had taught had become a man…and a rather desirable one at that.

“After everything that happened, I was all set to stay around the Burrow and be whatever help my family needed. But Mum practically ordered me to take a holiday. It’s not as if I didn’t have reams of holiday time built up at the Ministry anyway. And I readily admit that I’m not altogether certain now as to what I want to do with myself.” Percy shrugged, and Severus saw the guilt that lingered around the tight lines of Percy’s face. He saw the worry and concern that had never been fully shaken from his slumped shoulders. 

Then he saw again the book in Percy’s hand.

“So do you like that series? I had actually come here looking to buy that book. It’s the only one in the series that I’m missing,” Severus said, smoothly changing the subject.

Percy looked up, his blue eyes lighting with real interest. “I love it. You’ve got the entire series besides this one? I’ve only got the first three.” 

Severus glanced at him. “If you let me buy that one, you can borrow the entire series from me.” 

Percy actually grinned. “Agreed.” He cast a time charm and raised his brows. “Merlin, I didn’t realize it was so late. I really need to think about having dinner. Mum was adamant that if I didn’t put on a bit of weight on my holiday, she would feed me till I did.”

Severus laughed and found, to his surprise, that it felt good to laugh. “I think Minerva and Molly are more alike than they let on. Minerva said the same thing to me except that she threatened to assign a house elf to me whose only responsibility would be to see to it that I ate.” He shrugged and narrowly avoided blushing himself. “I don’t suppose you’d like to join me for dinner?”

Percy looked startled, but Severus saw the tension in his shoulders ease.

“I’d like that. It would be nice to have some company.”

The book was quickly paid for, and they were out the door, bound for Severus’s cottage which happened to be just a few doors down from Percy’s own.

The next few weeks passed by in a blur of laziness and relaxation. As easily as if they’d been doing it for years, Percy and Severus shared meals and spent hours walking together around the small town and up and down the beach. They went barefoot for the first time in a long time, and Percy found himself able to breathe much better without his ever-present tie strangling him. 

For his part, Severus wrestled with his long hair which he had been allowing to grow out mainly because he had not had a chance to cut it. Percy laughed and taught Severus how to bind it back and braid it with a simple spell that would keep it out of his face when he brewed and bring some order to the unruly mess. When Severus asked how he’d learned such a thing, Percy shrugged and said that it came with having a little sister. Severus learned the spell of course, but he took shameless advantage of Percy’s willingness to braid his hair for him. He found that he liked having the younger man’s hands in his hair a great deal. Freed from potion fumes, Severus’s greasy hair was silky and soft. If Percy wanted to play with it, who was he to object?

There came a day when it didn’t seem right to start the day without one or the other of them wandering down the road to join the other for breakfast. There came a day when it was normal for them to share all their meals with each other. Finally, there came a day when neither of them could refuse to see what was happening between them.

It was a week before the end of their holiday, a week before they would have to make decisions that they had been ignoring since the moment they met in the bookstore. Now, they were walking on the beach again long after moonrise, and an unexpected wave splashing over Percy’s feet had him stumbling against Severus. Severus caught him automatically, steadying him.

Percy looked up, and the look in Severus’s dark eyes took his breath away. They were full of what Percy could only read as affection, affection that Percy suspected few people had ever seen. He did not resist when Severus left his hand on Percy’s slender waist and raised his other hand to place it under Percy’s chin. 

Severus thought about speaking but found himself at a loss for words. Finally, he simply leaned down and kissed Percy.

Percy was certain that he was scarcely breathing. In one of the few impulsive actions in his strictly planned, clearly ordered, and perfectly regulated life, Percy threw his arms around the older wizard. Severus’s strong arms caught him, and in a moment, they were in Severus’s bedroom. Lips met, clothes fell, and skin met skin until there was nothing left but the undeniable rightness of being together.

The morning after was not nearly as awkward as either of them had expected.

“I think I’m going to return to teaching,” Severus said much later as they lay together in the dark. “I never thought I’d miss it. But I just can’t seem to imagine my life without it. I’m not sure what it is, but I don’t think that I’ll mind teaching the dunderheads so much without the fear of everything hanging over me.”

Percy smiled. “I know what it is. You, Severus Snape, are a protector. It is the core of your being, your very nature. You can’t function without having people to protect…students especially…children who you can protect in a way that nobody every protected you.” Percy’s smile slipped at the end, but he reached out to trace the hard angles of his lover’s face. 

Severus swallowed audibly but did not speak. He relaxed again as Percy started to knead the tense muscles of his shoulders. He’d shared his history with Percy a few nights ago, and Percy was one of the few people he trusted with the knowledge of it.

After a while, Severus said, “And you, Percy? What will you do with yourself? Are you going to go back to the Ministry? Kingsley did say that he’d welcome you back.” Severus took care not to grimace at the thought of Percy working so closely with Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley was charismatic and charming as well as known to be inclined toward his own gender. Severus did not care to think of how he would stack up beside such a man as Kingsley.

For a time, there was silence. But then, Percy spoke, and it was not what Severus had expected to hear.

“I used to think that the Ministry was all there was for me. It was my path to everything I wanted…respect, power, and the ability to make a difference in our world.” He sat up, running a hand through his tousled red hair before reaching, out of habit, for Severus’s long locks and idly beginning to braid them. “But I don’t think that way anymore.”

“You don’t?” Severus asked, surprised and unable to quench the tiny flame of hope that had sprung into being at Percy’s words.

And then Percy smiled at him. “I don’t, not now, not after all this…not after you.” 

Severus held his breath, hardly able to believe what he was hearing as Percy continued.

“I think I’d like to give this a try between us, if you’re willing.” He paused, shifting around to face Severus. “You mentioned that Minerva was in need of a professor for History of Magic since Professor Binns finally figured out he was dead and passed on. As it happens, I got an Outstanding on my History of Magic N.E.W.T.” Percy looked just a bit nervous. “Do you think she’d be willing to try me out for a year or two?”

Severus grinned as he felt his heart ease. “I just got a message from her yesterday. She’s desperate for a professor for it, and I think she’ll fall all over herself for you if you agree to take the position.” He raised his brows. “Where would you want to stay? You could keep your flat, but you’d have to floo to the school every morning.”

Percy shook his head. “That’s not what I had in mind.” He smirked at Severus in a perfect imitation of Severus’s trademark smirk. “I don’t suppose there are quarters near yours that are available?”

Severus smirked right back. “There happen to be some right next door to mine.”

“Excellent. I will send a message to Minerva tomorrow. But for now…” Percy trailed off as he caught Severus unaware, rolling him over and pinning him underneath him. Severus did not fight him. Instead, he relaxed, willingly yielding to his lover.

“For now, Severus, I think there are more interesting things we can be doing.”

Severus smiled against his lips and said nothing more.

Weeks later, Severus stood at Minerva’s side in the Great Hall, holding the Sorting Hat in his hands as the First Years filed into the room. He caught several interested glances from returning students: Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, and Ron Weasley all caught his eyes and nodded gravely at him. But it was the man at his other side who was attracting the most attention. Percy Weasley, wearing teaching robes, stood beside him.

Hermione Granger wasn’t the only student who noticed that, half-concealed behind the billowing folds of material, Severus and Percy were holding hands. 

Severus, before he went forward with the Sorting Hat, smiled at Percy who smiled back at him. As they turned to look out at the students together, Severus couldn’t help but squeeze Percy’s hand and think that the two of them had finally come home.


End file.
